Calvin Trillin's new work a heartfelt tribute to his late wife

By
John Stanton

Posted Aug 23, 2018 at 6:34 AMUpdated Sep 6, 2018 at 7:22 AM

Calvin Trillin outside the White Heron Theatre.▲

(Aug. 23, 2018) Calvin Trillin cannot help being humorous.

Sitting with him in the courtyard of the White Heron Theatre Company, a week before the opening of his play "About Alice," can feel a bit like a direct reflection of his writing. That is especially true if you are among those who have thumbed through a random New Yorker magazine in search of a Trillin piece.

On his long career in journalism.

"Most people my age sort of backed into journalism," he said. "I knew I wasn't going to do anything that required mathematical skills or manual dexterity. I never did well in math, because I could never convince my teachers that my answers were meant ironically."

"Once I was covering a dispute in Newark oversome public housing. Things had gotten violent. It was freezing, and I'm on a pay phone, keeping an eye out for a flying bottle. I suddenly thought, I wonder what (famous

syndicated columnist) Joseph Alsop is doing now. He's in some club with an admiral and the head of the CIA. I thought, I'm in the wrong part of this business."

On letting his wife Alice read a rough draft of his work.

"An older writer at The New Yorker told me that it's a bad idea. It's a strain on the marriage. Because everybody wants the person who gets the rough draft, even if he knows in his heart that this has a lot of weak spots, to say this is perfect, don't change a word."

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